Sunday, January 18, 2009

Stomping their feet to keep their toes from freezing, blowing into their hands to keep them warm, a group of College of Charleston students waited early Saturday morning for the vans that would take them to the nation's capital. They are about to be part of President-elect Barack Obama's inauguration.

Elder James Johnson could sense the anger when he pulled up to the scene of North Charleston's first homicide of the year Jan. 8. A teenager had been gunned down near Mary Ford Elementary School. Tensions ran high. Johnson heard some young men in the crowd talking of going after a person they thought was responsible for Parris Green's slaying. Johnson spread the message that it was better to let police handle the investigation, that vigilante justice wasn't the answer. It worked. Cooler heads prevailed.

Guy moves down here from Cleveland, and next thing you know, he's bringing the weather with him. After suffering through several snow-free seasons, Tim Dowd was anticipating some accumulation. Friday night, he took matters into his own hands.

WASHINGTON â" Things have changed very little since I left here 20 years ago. The government is a mess. Politics is even messier. The only thing that kept us from running off the rails in the 1980s was a strong dollar, an evil enemy and a guy named Ronald Reagan. Love him or hate him, he was a charismatic president in the right place at the right time.

If you're looking for a deal on a boat, says Jacqui McGuinness Bomar, you won't want to miss this week's 29th annual Charleston Boat Show at the North Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center. Bomar, whose company JBM & Associates runs the show for the Charleston area boat dealers, acknowledges the current economic uncertainty but is hoping for a big show.